Entry Four: Word Association Story

It's a Fall Friday night in a small town in Middle America. The air is cool and becomes even more chilling as the sun fades completely. The aroma of hot dogs fill the stadium as parents, teachers, friends, and classmates fill the metal bleachers waiting for the action to start. The lights shine bright on the field, as though the green field is a shrine dedicated to those fortunate enough to walk it. My dad is down there on the sidelines, the same place he has been every Friday night during the fall for my entire life, and for the majority of his. He's easy to spot with his tall frame and graying hair that once used to be as dark as mine. He lives and breathes football, it's part of who he is, his demeanor. Everyone in the stands knows him, and many of them are watching as he coaches their sons the same way he coached them fifteen years prior. As his players take the field he stands with a slight crouch watching to see if they are "doing their job" and "making their block" his voice is gruff but he isn't' at least not really. He takes pride in his job and is passionate about the sport, and it kills him when players don't act and feel the same way. After each series, he takes his players to the bench and depending on how the series went; fans might be able to hear him from their seats. People always look back to my mom and I and laugh saying, "Coach Barnes won't be too happy tonight!" to that my mom and I laugh in response because no one really knows my dad. To them he is intimidating and one of the consistent faces of Ray-Pec football. But Mom and I know that's not the case. We know that no matter what at the end of the game, we'll walk over to the sports building and wait for Dad to come up to us. He'll hug me and kiss my mom and thank us for coming, and then he'll talk about what his players did and did not do correctly and tell us when he'll be home. Usually the other coaches come up and talk to Mom and I and ask me how I'm enjoying school, we make small talk until we are both tired and cold and we are sure the traffic on School Road has died down a little bit. We say goodbye to Dad and notice that he looks a little tired, but if you really look you'll see that he's in his element. This is what he does. This is where he belongs.